The Child of Wrath
by Lover of Video Games
Summary: Years after the events of ROTHC, Vette and the LSM!Sith Warrior have a kid, but when it's discovered that she's Force-sensitive, they will do anything to stop the Sith from getting a hold of her - even giving her to the Jedi. JK, JC, SW, and Trooper spoilers ahead. T for swears and violence, may change to M later. Plenty of laughs and angst for everyone.
1. Prologue: Contradictory Contraceptives

"Vette, you need to calm down." Cassius said, resting his hands on Vette's shoulders as she sat on the sofa in one of their apartments on Dromund Kaas.

"Calm? CALM? DID YOU JUST TELL ME TO CALM DOWN?!" Vette yelled at him, obviously not really mad at him. "You don't EVER tell a girl to calm down, you glorified executioner!"

"That was uncalled for." He said, trying not to lose his own temper.

"So was telling me to calm down!" She shrieked.

"HEY!" Cassius snapped, voice booming in the small room. Vette immediately stopped her hysterics and sank back into her seat. "That's better," Cassius said, taking a calming breath. "Now, let us both just… talk about this. You began feeling ill a few days ago and when it didn't go away, we took a scan just a few minutes ago and…"

"I'm pregnant."

"Yes."

"And isn't that _terrifying_ to you? You're the Emperor's Rage-"

"Wrath."

"-and we both know I'd be the galaxie's shittiest mom. How are we possibly going to raise a _kid_ together?" Vette was starting to work herself up again, but Cassius gave her shoulders a tight squeeze, and she began to relax again. "I just, I don't see… I don't know how we're going to make it through all this. We're not exactly the epitome of the ideal Imperial family, are we? A human Darth and a former Twi'lek slave, raising a kid together? How could this possibly work out well?"

"First of all, it shouldn't be biologically possible-"

"If you start talking about science again, I'm going to shoot you in foot."

"So anyway…" Cassius continued, admittedly scared of his wife. "But… I want to try it nonetheless. No matter how difficult it's going to be on you, or on me, I'm going to try my damn hardest to make it easier. Hell, if it meant making you feel less pain I'd give birth to the damn thing myself."

"Oh, don't make me imagine that." Vette pleaded, laughing anyway.

"I'd never make you do anything." He said with a small shrug. "I've got a well-developed sense of self-preservation, as it happens. I'd just like you to consider it. Obviously it is ultimately your decision, but I think you ought to give it some thought."

"I really don't know, Cassius," Vette said somberly.

"You never call me Cassius." He pointed out.

"Only when I'm serious, Reek brain." She said, rolling her eyes so hard they nearly got stuck. "And do I seem like I'm joking right now?"

"With all of your sarcasm, it's hard to tell."

"Right… remind me why I married you?" She asked, feigning boredom.

"Dashing good looks? Charm? Power?"

"Right… talking about things that you _do_ have."

Cassius gave a mock gasp. "You _wound_ me, Madame! And to think, I thought you loved me." His eyes had lost the hard look from before, and a small smile was beginning to wrinkle his features. Vette too was beginning to adopt her normal carefree attitude.

"Ahh, pssh. You're alright, but I'll admit I always had a thing for Jaesa."

"I didn't know you could read my mind, my dear."

"What, you dream about me and Miss Pure as the Driven Snow?" She started laughing, nearly forgetting their dilemma.

"Please, even _Broonmark_ probably dreamt about that." Cassius said dismissively.

"Better him than Pierce."

"I'm pretty sure his dick is just another gun." At this, Vette burst out laughing, and Cassius quickly followed suit, letting out a light chuckle. As she started to come down from the laugh, Cassius grabbed Vette in an embrace and gave her a single kiss, holding her close. As they came away from the hug, he gazed into her eyes, and her face got soft.

"So…" Vette began, her cheeks turning a darker shade of blue. "I, uh, I guess that maybe this wouldn't be such a bad idea, huh?"

Cassius smiled warmly. "I don't think so, no. Obviously it is still entirely up to you, but I really do think that we could make it work. I am completely and utterly in love with every arrogant, snarky, sarcastic part of you, after all. I'm in it for the long haul, whatever happens."

"Wow, really knocking me out with those compliments."

"I'm trying to be comedically romantic, Vette. Work with me here." Cassius rolled his eyes exaggeratedly.

"Yeah, yeah, love you too, asshole," Vette replied, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

* * *

"Cassius! CASSIUS! CASSIUUUUUSSSSS!"

"WHAT?!"

"Can you come give me a foot massage?!"

…

"CASSIUS!"

"Yes, YES, Vette, I'm COMING!"

"Oh, and could you go to the store and bring me some truffles first?"

"What kind?"

"Doesn't matter!"

"Oh my… fine!"

"What's the problem?!"

"You always say this shit! I'm gonna get halfway back from the store, and then you're gonna call me telling me that oh, you've changed your mind, you want the _green_ ones or the _small_ ones or the ones with swirls on the wrapper! And then I'm gonna have to turn the goddamn speeder around in the absolutely _God-awful_ rush hour traffic and go _all the way back to the store_ just to get the right _fucking_ truffles, Vette!"

"Well, it's not _my fucking fault_!" Vette yelled at him furiously. "You want to blame someone, then blame _her_! She's the one who's got my _fucking_ liver in a headlock, or maybe you can blame _yourself_ for breaking the biological limit, you _fucking RANCOR_!"

"Alright, _ALRIGHT_! For fuck's sake, this asshole in your stomach is tearing us apart. I'll just go get a fucking variety bag or some shit. I'll eat the ones you don't want, okay?"

"Fine, fine, whatever. Just… hurry up, alright? I still want that foot massage, dick!"

"My pleasure, _sweetie._ "

* * *

"Um, Cassius?" Vette called from the bedroom.

"If you ask me for _another fucking_ _foot massage_ , I'm going to go sleep downstairs!" He called back.

"Don't be an ass!"

"Well, what is it?"

"My water broke, asshole!"

"Oh, sure, your- wait WHAT?!"

"Yeah, Emperor's Fury, you heard me!" Vette shrieked at him.

Suddenly, the fifty-seven books Cassius had read on childbirth didn't seem to matter, as all memories of what to do in this situation seemed to disappear from her mind. He felt himself beginning to sweat, and used the Force to enhance the velocity of his sprint upstairs. He burst through the door to the bedroom, scooped Vette up with a yelp from her before she could say anything to him, and sprinted back down the stairs towards the garage.

"Cassius, calm _down_!" Vette yelled as he plopped her in the backseat of their shuttle. "We're fine, we're _fine,_ it literally _just_ broke! We can take it slow!"

"The sooner we get to the medcenter, the better!" He told her, putting in the automatic navigation for the Dromund Kaas medcenter. Cassius sat down next to Vetter and took her hand in his, trying to calm both of them.

"Would you just calm down?" Vette asked anxiously, very obviously not calm herself.

"Alright… alright… just clear your mind."

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, remember a couple years ago when I insisted that I sort of… connect us using the Force?" Cassius asked. Vetter rolled her eyes slightly and nodded. "Well, that was actually real, not just some gimmick. And I can sort of… tap into your feelings."

"Why are you bringing this up now?" Vette snapped as their shuttle brought them closer to the medcenter.

"Patience." He said, gripping her hand tightly. "I can sort of… channel your pain, like I do with other emotions. But instead of making me stronger, it's just going to make me feel what you _should_ be feeling. Do you understand?"

"Not really."

"All you really need to understand is that you should be feeling a lot less pain than you normally would. I could take on most of it, so that you'd just feel a… mild annoyance."

"So… what? You're just gonna take my labor pain away?" Vette meant it as a joke, but her smile faded when she saw the look in his eyes. "Oh my god. You're actually gonna take my labor pain away?"

"That's correct."

"But isn't that widely considered to be the worst pain a person can experience?"

"Also correct."

"After I recover from all this, I am _so_ making this up to you…" She smirked at him and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Why don't we just worry about that later?"

* * *

"AAAUUUGHHH!"

"My lord, please calm down! Take deep breaths!"

"RRRGGGGGG!"

"How far apart are the contractions?" The doctor asked Vette.

"How the fuck should I know?" Vette asked.

"Forty seconds." Cassius said through gritted teeth.

"Time to start pushing, miss." The doctor said, relatively calm.

"OH SHIT!" Cassius yelled, squeezing Vette's hand to try and anchor himself, only causing himself more pain.

"Cassius, are you alright?" Vette asked, more out of courtesy than anything else. Cassius just looked at her with exasperation before giving a grunt and a curt nod.

This went on in a similar fashion for what seemed like ages to Cassius, but in reality couldn't possibly have been more than five to ten minutes. Vette could hear him muttering to himself: "Nothing matters but Vette, nothing matters but Vette, you're fine, you're _fine,_ nothing matters but Vette…" Finally, with one last push from Vette and a bellow from Cassius, it was over. He collapsed in the nearest chair, shivering and sweating profusely, taking long, shuddering breaths. He actually went so far as to remove his tunic, which Vette had no idea why the idiot would have kept on during _childbirth,_ leaving his top half clad in only a short-sleeved undershirt. Looking at him like this, Vette was reminded of one of the reasons she married him. However, she was quickly distracted by the wailing coming from between her legs.

"It's a girl!" The doctor announced.

"We already knew that, or maybe you thought we were trying it the old-fashioned way?" Vette asked tiredly.

"Hey, you don't get to pick up an attitude with me, Twi'lek!" The doctor snapped at her, forgetting for a moment that Cassius was standing next to him.

"What did you just say to her?" Cassius asked, releasing Vette's hand and scowling at the doctor.

"What? I didn't mean to-"

"Just… hand her her daughter, and then get the fuck out." Cassius snapped at him. The doctor, showing remarkable intelligence, handed the still crying baby to Vette before backing away slowly for fear of being choked. "Nurse?" The nurse turned to him, somewhat terrified. "Since your boss is quite obviously incompetent, would you just mind finishing up?" Cassius continued glaring at the doctor as he ran away. Hastening to comply, the nurse grabbed the necessary equipment to sever the infant's umbilical cord, briefly took her away to be washed, and handed her back to Vette clad in cloth.

Vette could feel her eyes beginning to water. "Cassius… she's beautiful, isn't she?" She gave the little girl a kiss on her forehead, and a tear ran down her cheek. "We _made_ this. I can't believe she's here now, in my arms…" She started shaking, smiling sadly as more tears trailed down her face. "You made my life a living _hell_ for nine months, asshole. You're lucky you're so damn cute, dick…"

Cassius smiled broadly, embracing her from behind. "Seeing as I half-gave birth to her, would you mind letting me hold her?" Vette laughed through her tears and handed the child over to him wordlessly. He unwrapped the blanket slightly, and could see that she was tangled in her own little lekku. His heart melted a little, and he slowly, delicately, untangled her. "She really is beautiful, Vette… aren't you glad we decided to keep her?"

"Well of course I am, numbnuts. What kind of question is that?"

"Alright, alright, I got it."

The nurse came back into the room, smiling lightly. "Do my lord and his lady have a name for the baby girl?"

"If you tell me to name her Jaesa, I'll shoot you." Vette said irritably.

"I wouldn't dream of it." Cassius reassured her. "I'll leave the name up to you, darling."

Vette stayed quiet for a long while, looking intently at her daughter. "Tivva, I think." She said after a long deliberation.

* * *

Two years later, Cassius and Vette were shaping up to be better parents than either of them thought they'd be, although Cassius was frequently dealing with the Dark Council's bullshit. Vette had taken on a minor abuse of her husband's power, smuggling goods off of Dromund Kaas to rebel colonies. Cassius knew, of course, although he pretended that he didn't.

Although, unfortunately, Vette wasn't able to spend every day fighting the Empire, which fucking Jaesa already did. She spent days at home with Tivva, teaching her the very early beginnings of how to be a snarky little shit. One day, while Cassius was off meeting with the Dark Council, Vette was watching Tivva play with her toys for the umpteenth time, and had regretfully forgotten to bring something to entertain herself. Adorable as Tivva was, there was only so much toddler watching a person could handle, and Vette could feel herself drifting off to sleep.

She was about to pass out when a light weight collided with her foot. Her eyes snapped open, and she found Tivva's favorite toy, a stuffed bantha, at her feet. The kid must have dropped it or thrown it or something. Vette bent down to pick it up when, to her amazement, the toy began moving of its own accord, gently floating up and over into Tivva's waiting hand. Tivva then continued playing like nothing had happened. Vette was initially astonished and impressed - she had a Force user for a kid! How cool was that? However, as she continued thinking about it, her excitement turned to horror as she realized what would eventually happen.

"Vette? I'm home!" Cassius called, walking into their apartment and spotting Vette on the sofa with Tivva in her arms.

"Emp'ror's anger…" Tivva said, giggling.

"Did you honestly teach her that?" Cassius asked.

"Maybe it's genetic." Vette suggested. "Speaking of which… does… um… is the Force kind of… hereditary?"

"Not at all. It's random, really." Cassius told her. "It all depends on the midichlorians of-"

"Skip the lecture, professor." Vette told him.

"Alright. But why do you ask, then?"

"Okay, but first you have to promise not to freak out." Vette said, taking a deep breath.

"I promise."

"Tivva's Force-sensitive."

"What in the-" Cassius cut himself off, remembering his promise. "Oh. Oh no…"

"Exactly. They're going to take her to Korriban!" Vetter told him frantically.

"And hell, we _live_ on Dromund Kaas! They could find her any day now, and-"

"I won't let it come to that, Vette. You know I won't." Cassius said softly.

"Yeah? Well, guess what? Try as you might, you can't fight off every other Sith on the planet."

"Really, you don't think I can?" Cassius asked. "Watch me. Think they'll fight one by one or do I need to take on the horde?"

"Cassius, this is _serious_!" Vette said sharply, shutting him up. "I appreciate the attempt at humor, hun, but this really isn't the time. We need to think of some way to get her out of the system."

"Yes, yes, of course, you're right," Cassius said sternly. "My apologies. Obviously we can't allow her to be taken to Korriban. I won't have my little girl corrupted and turned into another Darth Baras or Darth Zhorrid. But we obviously can't hide her powers forever; one way or another, people will find out."

"So where's a place we can take her that's accepting of her Force-sensitivity and willing to train her to use it correctly?"

"I'm honestly not sure such a place exists in the Empire." A smile that didn't reach his eyes crept onto Cassius' face. "Heh, the only place I can really think of in the galaxy off the top of my head is Tython."

"What, the Jedi training planet? That'd be perfect!"

"Yes, exactly. But obviously we can't send her to _Tython._ " He looked at her and his smile fell. "Wait… can we?"

* * *

Tython was a beautiful place, to be sure.

Too bad it was so damn difficult to get to.

As Cassius and Vette walked through the lush vegetation surrounding the Jedi Temple, the only thing on Cassius' mind was if they would turn Tivva away just because of who he was. He still couldn't believe that infiltrating the heart of the Republic was as easy as putting on normal clothes (horrible starchy pieces of shit), making one's way on board a civilian freighter, and slowly changing ships until they got where they wanted to go. No wonder the Republic was losing.

The halls of the Jedi Temple too were rather beautiful, a sharp contrast from anything one might find on Korriban or Dromund Kaas. Here everything had a sort of soft look to it, with lots of rounded edges, browns, and whites. It seemed designed to calm people down as they walked through it and provide a feeling of home, unlike Sith structures' sharp practical lines and dark marble and steel. Perhaps it would have worked, too, had Cassius not been so paranoid that something might go horribly wrong. Vette was actually calmer than he was, somehow, and she had to hold onto his arm to keep him grounded. Tivva was draped over her other shoulder, gazing in awe at all the lights and Jedi they passed on their way.

The stairs up to the Jedi Council chamber were certainly lengthy, but to Cassius they could never have been long enough. Not for this. The grand doors were already open, and the three of them stood at its threshold, looking in at the most powerful Jedi in the galaxy. To think, if the Emperor knew what his Wrath was about to do… "D'you suppose we just… walk in?"

Vette shrugged. "I guess so. I'm not exactly proficient in how to ask a bunch of our greatest enemies to adopt the biologically impossible hybrid child of the Emperor's personal enforcer and his Twi'lek ex-slave. Are you?"

Cassius gave a dry laugh. "I suppose not. Honestly, the more I think of this entire situation, the more ridiculous it seems. In this kind of situation, I don't suppose it would be entirely inappropriate to just… let ourselves in?"

"Yeah, sure. Fu- I mean, screw it."

"Screw it." Tivva echoed, giggling.

"You see what we're doing to her?" Cassius asked, shaking his head as he walked inside.

The Jedi Council was standing inside, in discussion about the elusive Emperor's Wrath who now stood before them.

Master Kiwiiks was currently giving a short speech about him, as it happened."We must do something about-"

"Master Kiwiiks, it would seem that we have a few visitors." Grand Master Satele said, cutting her off. "Greetings. I am Grand Master Satele Shan, and this is Master Bela Kiwiiks." Master Kiwiiks bowed slightly. "Over there in the corner is Master Idyrira Nal'Varra, the Barsen'thor and her… friend… Master Emeric Talloran, the Hero of Tython." Master Idyrira bowed politely, and Master Emeric narrowed his eyes suspiciously, his scowl lost in his beard.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" Master Idyrira asked, her brow furrowing across her tattoos. "I can't help but think that we've met before."

"Well, um… we may have fought before." Cassius told her. His comment elicited a snarl from a Trandoshan standing next to Master Idyrira.

"No enemies of Scorekeeper's Herald have yet to live." He said in Trandoshan.

"Calm yourself, Qyzen." Idyrira told him, resting a hand on his shoulder. "None of us are infallible. Continue speaking, pilgrim."

"I think that Master Emeric and Master Timmns may know me as well." Cassius admitted.

"My name has not yet been said." Timmns pointed out from his own seat. "Perhaps we _have_ met before."

"We have. My name is Cassius Telvanni, better known as Darth Cassius… the Emperor's Wrath." As soon as he finished speaking, every Jedi in the room ran to the front of the Council Chamber and drew their lightsabers. "Oh, please… my daughter is here; do we have to fight?"

"We kind of actually _do_ need to fight!" Emeric shouted at him, brandishing his lightsabers. "My honor demands it!"

"Master Emeric, calm yourself!" Grand Master Satele told him, still holding her own saberstaff. "While this man may be our enemy, we must speak with him to find out his purpose, if nothing else."

"Grand Master, we cannot listen to him, and we most certainly cannot _trust_ him!" Emeric insisted. "If there were ever a Sith who _must_ be struck down, it is he! We can't just pass this chance up."

"Jedi never seek out fights," Cassius reminded him. "Don't you think you might be doing something seriously wrong if your sworn enemy knows the Jedi Code better than you?" Emeric looked as if he were about to say something, but his shoulders slumped.

"Bah, fine. Speak then, Wrath. Tell us why you would be so brazen as to make your way to the home of the Jedi, at the heart of the Jedi Council, where there is no chance of escape. This should be rather entertaining."

"My _word,_ Master Emeric. Still feeling a little bitter over how I fended off both you and Master Idyrira by myself, are we?" Cassius said with a smirk. It quickly faded, however, when Tivva clambered her way across Vette's chest and rested her head on his shoulder. "Er, anyway… I really should explain myself. All I ask is that you hear me out completely before you decided what to do with me.

"Well, as you are surely able to tell, I am not here alone, but rather with my family. I don't know if any of you had a family before entering the Jedi Order, or perhaps started one since-" He cast a sidelong glance at Satele- "but I assure you that under no circumstances would I ever put those so close to me in this much danger were it not _absolutely essential_.

"The problem that has befallen me and my family is that our child here, Tivva, has proven to be Force-sensitive." Master Timmns inhaled sharply, and Cassius glanced at him. "Yes… quite. Anyway, as I'm sure you know, within the Sith Empire, as soon as a child's Force sensitivity manifests, they are taken from their homes and sent to Korriban, or first a preliminary holding location if they are very young, like Tivva is, to be trained at the Sith Academy and molded into Sith. Her sensitivity has manifested before she is even able to speak in complete sentences, which leads to the inference that she has an extremely high midichlorian count, and therefore the potential to be very powerful.

"I would rather die than see her taken away from me and raised by those sadistic monsters that they have teaching the Acolytes." He sighed and took a deep breath, trying to calm down. He lifted up his tunic slightly, revealing a scar across his torso. "They sent me, a fresh-faced recruit, into a cave full of fully matured Tuk'ata to kill the Alpha and retrieve its brain. And for what? So a fat, clinically insane minor Sith Lord who was hopped up on stims the entire time could get his paper recognized. I couldn't let that happen to Tivva."

"We can't-" Emeric started to go off on a rant again, but Idyrira quickly cut him off.

"We _can_ take her on, Emeric, and it is not only possible, it is our duty." She told him. Emeric shut up again, realizing his fallacy for the second time.

"You do realize that you would _never_ be able to see her." Master Kiwiiks reminded him.

"I'm well-aware of that, but I couldn't bear the very thought of her becoming some forgotten corpse in a Tuk'ata den, or even worse… end up as a Sith."

"But you're a Sith. Do you hate your own kind that much?" Emeric asked.

"Yes. Yes I do."

"But… but…"

"Emeric, be silent." Satele chastised, deactivating her lightsaber and motioning for the rest of the Council to follow suit, which most did without any qualms, except for Emeric. "Very well, Sith. We will take your daughter, and teach her the proper ways of the Force, which I suspect you have tried your best to follow on your own."

Cassius nodded solemnly and took Tivva from Vette, holding her in his arms for a moment before carefully setting her on her own two feet. "You be good while we're gone, alright?" Cassius said, crouching down to eye-level with her. She nodded slightly, looking a bit confused and clutching her toy bantha to her chest. Cassius smiled sadly. "Okay. Daddy loves you." He placed a small kiss on her forehead, and she giggled. Vette knelt down next, gave Tivva a hug, and booped her nose once, smiling as Tivva laughed again. Neither of them cried.

"Lord Cassius," Satele said, gently but sternly. "It is time for you to leave. We will not stop you from departing Republic space, but if you ever infiltrate again we will be forced to neutralize you. Do you understand?"

Cassius nodded again. "I do. Vette… it's time."

"Yeah… yeah, I know it is. Bye, Tivva. I love you so much." Vette slowly stood up, took Cassius' arm, and the two of them turned and walked out of the Council Chamber. Tivva looked after them, more confused.

"Momma? Daddy?!" She called after them, and began to toddle along in their stead, getting halfway to the doors before Idyrira came up behind her, picking her up and holding her close to her chest. Tivva began to cry, calling after her mom and dad more and more as they got farther and farther away. Unable to listen any longer, Cassius used the Force to yank the double doors closed behind him as he crossed back into the hall.

Neither of them cried leaving the Jedi Temple. Neither of them cried on the shuttle to the Republic fleet, nor on the freighter to Nar Shaddaa, not even in the spaceport walking to their ship's hangar. Only when he sat down in front of the Fury's galaxy map did Cassius finally allow himself to cry - silent, heavy sobs that wracked his whole body. Vette came in a few minutes later, and the two of them simply held each other and wept.

They stayed like that for a long time.


	2. Chapter 1: Tivva

"You must focus, Padawan." Master Idyrira said, sitting on a boulder in Tython's wilderness, meditating with practiced ease as Tivva paced around anxiously.

"How am I supposed to focus? I'm easily distracted, Master." Tivva said defensively, stopping in her tracks and turning to face Idyrira. "And besides, a Padawan could never actually lift a boulder that size!"

"Don't worry about that at the moment. Don't focus on what you can't do, just focus on the Force."

"That doesn't even make sense!" Tivva pointed out, kneeling on the ground anyway. "Ugh, fine… keep being cryptic, I'll figure it out." She closed her eyes and tried to "focus on the Force" because Jedi don't actual know how the Force works, in reality.

After nearly half an hour of "mediation", Tivva finally managed to lift the boulder, and Idyrira as well, sending the surprised Jedi Master falling onto the grass, visibly shocked.

"Well done, Padawan." Idyrira told her after she regained her footing. "I must admit… I didn't expect you to succeed."

"Then why did you have me do it?" Tivva asked her. "You said something about there being treasures hidden under the boulder, or whatever…"

"The 'treasures' you were meant to find were peace and enlightenment, my Padawan." Idyrira explained, smiling reassuringly. "Even if you never managed to lift the boulder, you could still find a connection to the Force."

"Seriously? This is a common practicing exercise? You set people to perform a nearly impossible task and only when they fail miserably you explain it to them?"

"Yes. Although you hardly failed." Idyrira reminded her. Tivva let out a frustrated groan and let the boulder crash back on the ground.

"Can't we do something productive?" Tivva complained. "We could spar, or go help the Kalikori with the Flesh Raiders."

"The Kalikori are more than capable of handling themselves now." Idyrira pointed out, walking past Tivva and looking out of the ruins of Kaleth, now rid of droids and sparsely populated by pairs of dueling Padawans. "A Jedi must never seek out a fight. Violence is only ever a last resort, and it is sometimes the only resort."

Tivva rolled her eyes slightly, to which Idyrira responded by playfully smacking the back of her head. "What, you thought I wouldn't see that?"

"I guess not…" Tivva mumbled. "My apologies, Master."

"Treat your elders with respect, Padawan, but never grovel." She said, laughing lightly. "But I suppose you have earned some respite. Come. We can spare for a while yet before we return to the Temple." Idyrira led them into a nearby clearing, at which point she unsheathed the training saber she'd brought along for just this sort of occasion, smirking lightly as she did so. "I remember when I had my own one of these. I keep it above my desk in my chambers. Such a clunky thing."

"Right?!" Tivva exclaimed. "These things are awful!"

"Well, we can hardly let you use a real lightsaber at such an early stage now, can we?" Idyrira asked, handing the training saber to Tivva. "Although you've nearly passed the Trials yourself, Padawan."

"Well I'm glad to hear that, at least," Tivva said with a smirk. "It feels like absolutely ages since I first became your Padawan. Not that I haven't been having a blast, of course, Master." she added quickly. Idyrira simply laughed and unsheathed the vibrosword she'd brought for herself. Her preferred weapon, a saberstaff, still hung on her belt, but there was no way she was going to pull that out on her Padawan just yet.

From the first crackle of blade on blade, Tivva felt hundreds of times more awake and alert than when she'd been studying obscure Force teachings. Something more tangible was certainly easier to learn. And besides, there was nothing quite like working up a good sweat after an intense fight. This fight certainly wasn't fair, per say; Idyrira could easily destroy her if she wished it, but that didn't matter to Tivva. All she wanted was some action. Unfortunately, she ended up getting far more than she bargained for. Nearing the end of their mock-duel, a band of Flesh Raiders, nuisances that they were, stormed the Kaleth grounds. Master Idyrira immediately turned away from Tivva and dropped her own training saber.

"Wait here." She ordered, drawing her saberstaff and igniting the twin green blades. Wordlessly, she leapt from the ridge upon which they stood and landed in the middle of the training grounds between the Padawans and the Flesh Raiders. The beasts had apparently raided an old armory and had equipped themselves with blasters and training lightsabers. Fearsome though they may have been to the Padawans, they were no match for a Jedi Master. Idyrira practically flowed around them like water over rock, her face blank and expressionless as she felled them effortlessly. Although the war band had primarily planned to storm the training grounds, they weren't without some modicum of intelligence. A few Flesh Raiders had crept upon the ridge where Tivva stood watching the battle, armed with pilfered thermal detonators.

"Keel… Jeed-ay…" The Flesh Raiders growled, charging at Tivva and catching her off-guard.

Or so they thought. Tivva whipped around, deflecting one of their blades to the side and bringing it back a second later for a brutal slash directly across the beast's malformed face, sending it to the ground reeling and screaming in pain. 'Shit,' Tivva though. 'Saber's still on low power.' She quickly flicked it up to higher power level, and this time there was the distinct smell of burning flesh as she slashed her blade across another Flesh Raider's throat. The saber was designed so that it had no real stabbing potential, nor could it cut particularly deep, but it could certainly slash an opponent up to the point where the combined injuries were lethal. And so it went.

Her saber's limited capabilities were certainly an annoyance, but eventually the ground around her was littered with cut-up corpses, which smelled positively awful. She grimaced a deactivated her lightsaber before lifting the stolen thermal detonators into the air with the Force. She simply tried to think about what she wanted to happen through the Force, and it just… worked. The thermal detonators activated and began beeping rapidly, and she threw them at the tunnel entrance that the Flesh Raiders had snuck in through, collapsing it. Once it was all over, she couldn't help but laugh a little bit. "If I didn't know better, Master, I'd think you'd planned that whole thing for me. I haven't had such a good workout in weeks!" She looked over towards Idyrira, and her smile lessened, taking on a curious look as she saw the look on her master's face. "Er… something wrong?"

"Yes, actually." Idyrira replied, starting to pace the ridge aimlessly. "What you said… like someone had planned it. I certainly didn't but-"

"I did." Master Emeric interjected, storming up the ridge towards them.

"What?" Idyrira asked, stunned and furious. "How could you do that? There are dozens of Padawans down there, and you endangered all of their lives!"

"They were never in danger." Emeric said with a shrug. "You were here to protect them, and I was standing by in case it got out of hand. No one died in this… test… for Padawan Tivva."

"A test for… Emeric, why? Why would she need special testing? What reason have you behind this completely reckless, foolhardy, and frankly moronic plan?"

"I needed to see if she was as skilled as you've been saying." Emeric explained. "It would seem you were correct, and I needed to know that we didn't make a mistake in taking her on. Perhaps Padawan Tivva should offer her insights?"

Tivva tried desperately not to punch him in the face, instead bowing stiffly. "I appreciate your judgement, Master."

Emeric scoffed and rolled his eyes. "There's a fine line between respect and bootlicking, whelp. Best that you learn that now."

"EMERIC!" Idyrira snapped, and his head whipped towards her. "Over there. With me. I need to speak with you right now." Emeric started to say something, but she grabbed his arm and yanked him off with her, despite his yelp of protest. Tivva couldn't hear most of their conversation, but she could make out a few lines.

"... I don't like it when you get like this…"

"... She needs to learn…"

"... If her father were here…"

"... Her father is an arrogant prat…"

"... What kind of Jedi Master calls a Padawan 'whelp?'..."

The argument went on for a good ten minutes or so, and the smell of burning Flesh Raider was beginning to make Tivva nauseous. She was glad the argument ended when it did because she wasn't sure she could stand the smell much longer. Emeric turned with a flourish and tromped off back from whence he came, and Idyrira looked like she was about to pop a blood vessel. "My apologies, Padawan," she said as she returned. "Master Emeric… he… well, he truly is not like this most of the time. He's usually a very sweet man and I really do…" She paused. "Well, that's not important. His attitude towards you stems from some very personal issues he has; it's really not your fault and I wish he'd learn to control himself better," Idyrira gave a great sigh. "Well, this situation has been resolved, at least. Come, we must-"

"Just wait a moment, Master." Tivva said, crossing her arms. "I overhead Master Emeric mentioning my father during your… disagreement. What was that about?"

Idyrira's blood ran cold. "Oh, er, you heard that, did you?" A small knot of panic began forming in her gut. She had hoped she'd never have to have this conversation, or at least not so soon. She tried desperately to think of a lie on her feet, but she'd never been good at this. "Well… er… I…"

"Master, don't lie to me about this." Tivva pleaded, clasping Idyrira's shoulder. "I'm nearly twenty now. I've got the right to know."

"Tivva…" Idyrira began, her mouth going dry. "Well… you know I've known you for a very long time, yes?"

"Yes, but what does that have to do with the price of nerfs on Coruscant?" She asked in reply, obviously confused.

"What? What does that even… never mind. I was going to say that I essentially raised you for most of your very early life. Did you know that? You first came to us when you were still a toddler. Your parents entrusted you to our care because they couldn't care for you at the time, and-"

"The bantha!" Tivva exclaimed.

"I beg your pardon?"

Tivva started rifling through the pockets of her robes before she pulled out a small stuffed bantha toy, like the kind that a child would have. It was obviously many years old, but it had been quite well taken care of, and from the looks of it was frequently restitched.

"This." She said, as if that suddenly explained everything. Idyrira gave her a confused stare. "I just always thought I got this from Master Yuon, or even from you, but it's from my parents!" She grinned and put the bantha back in her pocket.

"You carry a toy bantha with you?" Master Idyrira asked.

"Yeah. Don't people usually carry sentimental items?"

Idyrira gave Tivva a quizzical look for a moment, but decided to gloss it over. "Well, I do still have my old training saber… but anyway, yes, that bantha is from your parents. You were holding onto it when they left you with us."

"But why did they leave me with you, exactly? What was the problem? They can't have just been some no-name peasants if they could convince the Barsen'thor of all people, along with the rest of the Jedi Council to a degree, to take care of me, so it wasn't money. Obviously they had to have walked in the light, right? Who were they, Master?"

"They… your parents did not entirely walk in the light, Padawan. Your father, as far as I knew him, was as good of a man as he could've been." Master Idyrira explained gently. "Your mother… well, I do not presume to know them both to a great extent, but as little as I knew your father, I knew your mother even less. I cannot tell you who they are, Tivva. But I can tell you that they walked in the light. They did not want to give you up."

Tivva stood there for a moment, looking deep into Idyrira's golden eyes, searching for something. Idyrira could feel herself beginning to sweat slightly. Eventually, however, Tivva smiled, and Idyrira let out a silent sigh of relief. "I believe you, Master. I… well, I don't entirely like it, but I think I understand why you can't tell me exactly who they were. And that's okay. Thank you for telling me what you could." Her smile widened further, and Idyrira felt very warm inside.

"I'm glad you can see it my way, Tivva. I'm thankful for that much at the very least." She smiled again and picked up her fallen training saber. "Now, weren't we still sparring, or have you grown complacent so quickly?"

"Ooohh, you are so on, Master!" Tivva said happily, falling into an aggressive stance as she threw herself forward to meet her master's blade.

* * *

She lost, of course, but she did so quite valiantly. Idyrira was almost as impressed as Tivva was at how good a fight she'd put up. There had even been a moment or two where she'd managed to throw her master off guard, but her guard was never broken long enough for Tivva to do anything with the opening. The two of them returned to the Jedi Temple tired and slightly bruised, but ultimately no worse for the wear. Tivva couldn't remember a time she'd felt quite so… at peace. Of course, Master Emeric had to go and ruin it by dragging Idyrira away on news that the Emperor's Wrath had been sighted on Hoth leading Imperial forces with former Jedi Padawan, Jaesa Willsaam, now known as Darth Oculus.

"Emeric and I will be gone for a few days, Padawan." Idyrira explained as she packed for the long trip. "Master Timmns will be joining us as well, and Master Kiwiiks will help you with your lessons while we are away."

"What's so important about the Emperor's Fury anyway?" Tivva asked.

"Wrath." Idyrira corrected. "And he… well, he's the Emperor's personal bodyguard, assassin, executioner, and herald all in one. It's important that we defeat him and take advantage of the confusion to advance the Republic's position."

"The position of Emperor's Wrath is almost as old as the Empire is," Master Emeric chimed in. "This particular Wrath is quite possibly the most powerful on record. He defeated a Jedi Master when he was but an apprentice, and even managed to destroy his own former master, a member of the Dark Council, who was several decades his senior."

"As far as we know," Idyrira added, "the Wrath has never been beaten in combat. We two have faced him in single combat multiple times, and every time he has, quite frankly, trounced us."

At this, Emeric's eye twitched slightly. "Yes, quite… Anyway, though most all the Council members have had a run-in with him at one point or another, we are the ones with the most experience dealing with him. The man appears so infrequently that we have to give ourselves the best possible chance of intercepting and defeating him whenever he pops up."

"And what happens if you actually manage to defeat him, assuming he survives?" Tivva asked, a bit anxiously.

"He will not survive." Emeric replied, scowling.

"Emeric, please." Idyrira said, resting her hand on his shoulder. "We will do all that we can to keep him alive, so that we may take him captive. Revenge and torture are hardly the Jedi way, Emeric."

Emeric's scowl deepened. "Yes, yes, of course. How could I ever have forgotten?" His tone was mocking and sarcastic, and Tivva could see that Idyrira's patience was wearing thin, as was her own. She honestly wasn't sure what was going on between those two, but Tivva really had trouble imagining him as "sweet."

Idyrira seemed like she was just going to ignore Emeric's mockery for the time being. "I think I've got everything I need for the journey," she said, throwing a few last miscellaneous items in her storage unit, including two books, an entertainment holopad, and several pairs of long underwear. "Emeric, if your supplies are packed, I suggest we go. I shall contact Master Timmns as we walk. My ship or yours?"

"Mine," Emeric said. "I'm sorry, but the smell of lizard permeating your ship is wholly unpleasant to inhale."

"Oh please, like Sergeant Rusk's tentacle lube is so pleasant," Idyrira retorted, though not unkindly, more teasingly. She turned to Tivva. "You be good, my Padawan. I suspect we'll be back in anywhere from two to three weeks. Respect Master Kiwiiks, okay?"

"Yes Master, I promise. Good luck on your voyage," Tivva replied, bowing lightly.

"Then that's that. Report to Master Kiwiiks in forty minutes for a short first lesson with her," Idyrira said, smiling. "Come on then, Emeric." The two Masters then walked out of Idyrira's chambers side by side, standing a little closer than was strictly proper.

* * *

It took them not three weeks to return, but six weeks, and Master Emeric was nearly homicidal. The Emperor's Wrath had defeated Emeric, Idyrira, and Master Timmns all at once, although not without his own injuries. At Emeric's insistence, the three Masters had returned with the Wrath's arm. Literally. And even with just one arm, the Wrath was still more than capable of defeating them and escaping with his life.

"Asinine Sith cretin!" Emeric shrieked as soon as he exited the shuttle on Tython.

"For Revan's sake, would you just shut up?" Master Timmns asked.

"I will not shut up! We fought him twelve times while we were there! We threw him out a window on a military base on a mountain, and he still survived!"

"It is the will of the Force, Master Emeric." Idyrira said, albeit sarcastic and bitter herself.

"Damn the Force!" Emeric snapped. "No amount of meditation is going to help me defeat that wretched man!"

"You have been fuming for fifteen hours," Timmns retorted. "Don't you think perhaps you ought to just give it a rest already?" He noticed Tivva and Master Kiwiiks walking up to meet him and the annoyed look he'd been cultivating slid off his face, replaced by the serene expression he usually wore. Emeric hardly had the tact for such a transition, and remained scowling. "Ah, Master Kiwiiks. How good of you to come welcome us back. I see you brought Tivva with you. I take it she did not prove too troublesome while we were away?" Idyrira smirked at this.

Master Kiwiiks smiled serenely. "She was perfectly fine for most of the time. Although," she added, her smile widening, "there was a particularly interesting debacle with her cereal one morning. I'm sure she'll enjoy regaling you with the exact details."

Tivva couldn't help but laugh at this. "Oh my goodness… you said you'd leave that alone! Now Master Idyrira's gonna be curious and I'm gonna have to explain how I could have possibly messed up breakfast."

"You assumed correct, Tivva. Now… what exactly transpired?" Idyrira asked, far too curious now.

"Well… see, Padawan Grigor brought in some Havrap eggs for breakfast, and Knight Clortell and I had a bet to see who could hold their Force concentration the longest…" She tried explaining weakly. Idyrira sighed and shook her head, feigning disappointment. "See, he took one of the eggs, and just sort of held it using the Force, and walked off with it, and I couldn't let him outdo me, so-"

"You picked up all the eggs."

"I picked up all the eggs." Tivva confessed, sighing. "Then Knight Kira was walking by, practically raving about Master Emeric disappearing, and she… distracted me. Long story short, I had to clean up two dozen Havrap eggs from the east corridor."

"What does this have to do with cereal?" Idyrira asked, masking her amusement.

Tivva sighed and looked over at one of the supply shuttles in the hangar. The ship appeared to have exploded somewhat, and was missing a wing. "Well, with the eggs gone, and not enough food in the kitchens for everyone, I had to go and get more from the supply ship."

"And you just accidentally blew it up through the Force?" Idyrira asked, only half kidding.

"No! I blew it up with a grenade!" Tivva said, trying to defend herself and failing. "I mean… um… well, I went to get the cereal, and the ship was also carrying munitions for the Pilgrims, and Padawan Ralon was helping with the unloading, and he…"

"Yes?" Idyrira prompted.

"He tried flirting with me and I broke his nose." Tivva relented.

"He did what?" Idyrira asked, evidently more concerned by Ralon's actions than Tivva's.

"Well, it wasn't so much flirting as touching my lekku and telling me I looked 'hot'. I don't even get that, but it sounded bad, so I just…" She mimed throwing a punch. "And he was carrying a case of fragmentation grenades, and one of them activated, so…"

"You blew up a shuttle because someone tried to hit on you." Idyrira mused, far too amused by the whole affair. "I can only imagine what would've happened if he were more forward."

"I should hope that she would resolve the situation in a refined, disciplined manner," Master Kiwiiks said, feigning seriousness, though a light smile played upon her features. "She is a Jedi in training, after all." All in all, no one seemed to be particularly upset with Tivva about the situation, except Emeric of course, though Tivva dismissed that as his usual rampant bitchiness.

"Refined and disciplined?" Master Idyrira asked, raising her eyebrows. "You are aware that we are talking about Tivva, yes?"

"Hey, I can be refined and disciplined if I want!" Tivva insisted, scowling slightly. "I mean… I may… perform as my Master so requests."

Idyrira laughed softly, a soft, lilting thing that caused the corners of Emeric's mouth to lift up slightly, seemingly involuntarily. "Ah yes, of course. How could I ever be so rude as to downplay your abilities so?" She placed a hand on Tivva's shoulder. "Come, then. I'm sure you have questions about my voyage, and I need to give a report to the rest of the Council in person as is."

"Right! So, how was it? Did you kill any Imperials? Were any of them important? Did you fight any Sith? Did you win?" Tivva asked, bombarding her Master with questions without pausing to take a breath.

"Yes, yes, yes, and sometimes," Idyrira said, rolling her eyes playfully. "We managed to dispatch a minor Moff and a fairly influential Sith Lord on our way towards the Emperor's Wrath. However our fight with the Wrath himself, as you heard, was unsuccessful. Emeric isn't going to let this one go for months…" Idyrira shook her head slightly. "We came rather close to defeating him once, but…" She paused. "I think it is safe to say that truly, there has never been a more skilled combatant in the entirety of cosmic history. It's not every day that a man can fight off three Jedi Council members at once using only a single lightsaber and one arm."

"Wait… one arm."

"One arm."

"One arm?"

"One arm."

"ONE FUCKING-"

"Yes, Tivva, one arm. And mind your language."

"Sorry. A bad habit. I think I get it from Doctor Cedrax." Tivva said, sighing exasperatedly.

"Do I need to make Holiday short-circuit again to teach Tharan a lesson?" Idyrira asked, stopping and crossing her arms.

"Naw," Tivva said casually. "It's fine. My mistake. But I'm honestly just, just unable to comprehend how a man could beat you all with one arm; I mean by the Force!"

"It honestly defies all common sense," Idyrira replied. "But that's really enough about the Wrath, Tivva, if you don't mind. I might hide it better than Master Emeric, but the whole experience really was very draining for me."

"I think you might feel better if you weren't always… draining Master Emeric." Master Timmns told her, staying out of arm's reach.

"Did you just…"

"I may have."

"Wrong move, buddy," Tivva muttered. Master Timmns turned on his heel and sprinted in the opposite direction, and Idyrira made a move to go after him. She chased him for a moment before she realized she'd never catch him, then she stopped and sighed.

"Qyzen!" She called out, waiting a bit impatiently. Taking his cue, Qyzen Fess leapt into the passageway and tackled Master Timmns to the ground, snarling.

"Soft thing offended Herald of Scorekeeper." Qyzen growled quietly. "Penalty may be harsh."

"Alright, Qyzen," Idyrira called, "you can let him up. Just… I don't know, hiss at him occasionally for a few hours; that should sufficiently put him off any further comments. Now get over here, Timmns; we need to go give a report."


End file.
